Love, Agape

Agape - the love of God. The love we see in Christ's death for our sins, our wrongdoings. Agape. Laying down our needs or wants, laying down our pride for the good of others. How often are we called to lay down our lives for our brother's and sister's, as Christ did for us? And how often do we actually do it? The thing is... laying down our lives for others may mean actually dying, but it also means stepping down and being a servant. It means being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. It means submitting to one another out of reverance for Christ. And it's looking out for the best interests of someone else.

Agape. Love unconditional. Some of the best examples of love agape can be found in the relationship between a husband and wife as one faces cancer or some form of debilitating illness. One has an unshakeable faith in Christ and strength beyond imagination as they face the reality of their situation. While the other, healthy spouse looks on with an unconditional love toward the other and responds with "if I could take the pain from them I would in a heart beat because I'd rather them live and be okay than to see them like this." Another example of love agape is seen daily on the battle ground for freedom, when men and women lay down their lives so that we may continue living with the safety that we have. Our armed forces and loval first responders daily lay down their lives for "the call of duty".

How do we even get to that point of sacrifice and selflessness?

There's this amazing book by Rob Bell called "Sex God" that takes glimpses of human love and relationship and relates them to how God feels, what He goes through daily on account of us. Some amazing excerpts from his writing follow, and show us how we can better Love - Agape:

"Why do we hear stories of people risking their lives to save others and we often tear up, even if we don't know any of the people involved? Because people are worth dying for. We know it to be true deep in our bones. And when we see someone actually do it, it's overwhelming."

Question: Who would you die for? And who/what would you die to self for?

"Agape is a particular kind of love. Love is often seen as a need, something we get from others. Agape is the opposite - Agape gives."

Question: What is agape to you? What would you give?

"Agape doesn't love somebody because they're worthy. Agape makes them workthy by the strength and power of it's love. Agape doesn't love csomebody because they're beautiful. Agape loves in such a way that it makes them beautiful. There is love because, love in order to, love for the purpose of, and then there's love, Period. Agape doesn't need a reason. It just does."

God loves us with an unconditional, Agape love. He loves us because he can - NOT because of what we've done. He loves us despite our circumstances and mistakes. He loves us beyond our wildest dreams. His love is pure love, genuine and true. His love is greater than we can ever imagine and His love is SO good that it's true. The best quote is always saved for last:

"Agape shakes us. It's too good to be true. Or maybe you could say it's good enough to actually be true. It affects how we live, how we act, how we think about ourselves. For God so agaped the world...